The Heroin Smugglers of New Jersey

In the whole of United States, if there is one place where this illicit drug called heroin is available in its purest form then it is undoubtedly New Jersey. Heroin is sourced from several regions of the world and smuggled into this state. The major sources of heroin supplies coming into New Jersey are from south east and south west Asia, South America and Mexico. The most readily available heroin of the lot is the one sourced from South America. As per the reports of the DEA, all the heroin that were purchased at retail level in the third quarter of 2003 were supplied by South America under the aegis of Newark’s Domestic Monitor Program (DMP). Most of the law enforcement authorities in New Jersey had reported that heroin was readily available while the rest of these agencies identified the drug to be the biggest threat in New Jersey.

Back in the year 2000, the federal law enforcement officials had seized 91 kg of heroin. In the next two consecutive years, the officials seized 169 kg and 188 kg respectively. The prices for this drug have been relatively stable. However, differences in prices of heroin have been noted in the markets of southern and northern New Jersey. According to the reports revealed by the DEA Newark Division, in the year 2003, heroin sold at $45,000 to $115,000 a kg in the northern part of the state, whereas in the southern part of New Jersey, $80,000 to $120,000 a kg for the same period. The levels of purity in heroin also differ in the southern and northern parts of the state. The DEA Newark Division reported having seized heroin in northern New Jersey which was 78 percent pure. The heroin that they seized in the southern region of the state was averagely pure with 61 percent purity.

The Colombian Drug Trade Organizations and the Dominican criminal gangs dominate the smuggling of heroin from South America to New Jersey. Usually these drug traffickers smuggle the heroin via couriers aboard the commercial aircraft’s. Occasionally, the DTO’s and criminal gangs also ship significant amount of the South American variety into New Jersey. Sometimes they also ship large quantities of marijuana or cocaine along with the heroin on other container vessels. A significant quantity of the South American heroin is trafficked into New Jersey from southwestern states, Pennsylvania and New York via the private and commercial vehicles. The West African and Nigerian criminal gang traffic Southeast Asian heroin and the Pakistani, Lebanese, Nigerian and other ethnic criminal groups traffic Southwest Asian heroin into the state through the Newark Liberty International Airport via couriers.